Richard Preston is an Assistant Editor of The Daily Telegraph. He has been the paper's features editor, news editor and comment editor.

One of the rituals of the general election season is refamiliarising oneself with the characters and the terminology. It's like hauling the Christmas decorations down from the loft. Ah, so there's the swingometer. The spoilt papers are in this box here, underneath the polling station posters, and I know we wrapped the returning officers in newspaper, so that's them in the corner.

As the big day nears, we start talking about the wash-up, the dissolution and, strangest of all, purdah.

Gordon Brown has today written to his ministers reminding them of the need to 'observe discretion in initiating any new action of a continuing or long-term character' between now and May 6. Westminster likes to call this period between the calling and the holding of an election 'purdah'. Odd really, given what a proper observation of purdah would entail.

The purpose of purdah, if I understand it correctly, is to draw a literal curtain between the public and the private, between street and home, between the worlds of men and women. It is bound up with notions of honour, respect and modesty. It does not therefore encourage access-all-areas-of-the-£100k-kitchen SamCam footage on YouTube, or 24-hour tweeting by the PM's wife.

I mention this because by about, oh, next Tuesday, we're all going to be sick of the sight of doting, supportive, not at all patronised leaders' wives and will wish they could all be more like the admirable Miriam Clegg, who has made it clear that she has a proper job that doesn't allow her to take four weeks' holiday to trail behind her husband's glad-handing tour of the country, thank you very much.